Karen Valencia Clark Sheard (née Clark; born November 15, 1960) is an American Grammy Award–winning Gospel singer, musician, songwriter, First Lady, and businesswoman. Clark-Sheard is the wife of the current Church of God in Christ Presiding Bishop J. Drew Sheard and she serves as the current First Lady of the COGIC denomination. Clark-Sheard is the youngest member of gospel group the Clark Sisters. She is also the mother of contemporary gospel singer and actress Kierra "Kiki" Sheard. She has released five solo albums, seventeen with the Clark Sisters, and collaborated with her son J. Drew Sheard II and her daughter Kierra Sheard.
During the hiatus of the Clark Sisters, Clark-Sheard recorded her critically acclaimed solo album Finally Karen, which spawned her hit, "Balm in Gilead" (a re-recording of a song she originally recorded as part of the Clark Sisters in the 1980s for their Heart & Soul album) the R&B-flavored "Just for Me" and "Nothing Without You" – a contemporary duet with R&B diva Faith Evans. Finally Karen became one of the most successful gospel albums of 1998 earning Sheard a Grammy nomination and a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for "Best Female Vocalist".
In early 2009, Clark-Sheard and her husband, J.Drew Sheard, partnered together and launched a new record label entitled Karew Records (Karew being a combination of both their forenames: Karen and Drew, pronounced: Kuh-rue); Distribution is via EMI Gospel. The Clark Sisters' Christmas album – which was released in October 2009 – was the first project to be released from Karew Records.
On January 31, 2010, Clark-Sheard won the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance for Wait on the Lord which she was featured with Donnie McClurkin. On April 6, 2010, Clark-Sheard released her fifth album (and first on her newly founded own record label – Karew Records) titled All in One, which features additional vocals from her daughter Kierra Sheard, son J. Drew Sheard II, sister Dorinda Clark Cole, niece Angel Chisholm and cousin J. Moss. Her first all-studio-recorded album since her 2002 release 2nd Chance, All in One debuted and peaked at #98 on the U.S. Billboard 200 (her second highest charting on that chart to date) and #3 on the U.S. Billboard Gospel Albums chart, while the album's lead single – "Prayed Up" – peaked at #9 and stayed over 22 weeks on the U.S. Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart. Clark-Sheard released her latest single "Sunday A.M" in 2014, which was nominated for the Best Gospel Song in the 57th Annual Grammy Awards.
In 2015, Clark-Sheard released her sixth album, Destined to Win. The album would become Clark-Sheard's highest charting and fastest selling album in her solo career, as well as her first live album since It's Not Over in 2006.
In 2019, Clark-Sheard was in talks to play Kitty Parham, a member of the Famous Ward Singers in Aretha Franklin's biopic Respect.[10]
During the hiatus of the Clark Sisters, Clark-Sheard recorded her critically acclaimed solo album Finally Karen, which spawned her hit, "Balm in Gilead" (a re-recording of a song she originally recorded as part of the Clark Sisters in the 1980s for their Heart & Soul album) the R&B-flavored "Just for Me" and "Nothing Without You" – a contemporary duet with R&B diva Faith Evans. Finally Karen became one of the most successful gospel albums of 1998 earning Sheard a Grammy nomination and a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for "Best Female Vocalist".
In early 2009, Clark-Sheard and her husband, J.Drew Sheard, partnered together and launched a new record label entitled Karew Records (Karew being a combination of both their forenames: Karen and Drew, pronounced: Kuh-rue); Distribution is via EMI Gospel. The Clark Sisters' Christmas album – which was released in October 2009 – was the first project to be released from Karew Records.
On January 31, 2010, Clark-Sheard won the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance for Wait on the Lord which she was featured with Donnie McClurkin. On April 6, 2010, Clark-Sheard released her fifth album (and first on her newly founded own record label – Karew Records) titled All in One, which features additional vocals from her daughter Kierra Sheard, son J. Drew Sheard II, sister Dorinda Clark Cole, niece Angel Chisholm and cousin J. Moss. Her first all-studio-recorded album since her 2002 release 2nd Chance, All in One debuted and peaked at #98 on the U.S. Billboard 200 (her second highest charting on that chart to date) and #3 on the U.S. Billboard Gospel Albums chart, while the album's lead single – "Prayed Up" – peaked at #9 and stayed over 22 weeks on the U.S. Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart. Clark-Sheard released her latest single "Sunday A.M" in 2014, which was nominated for the Best Gospel Song in the 57th Annual Grammy Awards.
In 2015, Clark-Sheard released her sixth album, Destined to Win. The album would become Clark-Sheard's highest charting and fastest selling album in her solo career, as well as her first live album since It's Not Over in 2006.
In 2019, Clark-Sheard was in talks to play Kitty Parham, a member of the Famous Ward Singers in Aretha Franklin's biopic Respect.[10]
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